Device for molding sheet-rubber.



A. l. WILLS, DECD.

:,1..w|LLs.ExzcuTR|x. DEVICE FOR MOLDING SHEET RUBBERI APgLlcATloN man MAR. 29. |916.

LQSLSQ, Patented oct. 15,4918.,

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

A. I. WILL'S| DECD.

M. B- WILLS. EXECIIIIIX.

DEVICE EoR MoLmNG sHEE RURRER.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 1'9. 1916.

3,211,462, Patented Oct. 15, 1918.

2 SHEETS--SHEET 2.

F'g- 4 f 5 //JE/V TUR: MQW WAM.

prio ears.

.a raro.

ARTHUR J'. WILLS, OF BBOKFIELB, .MASSACHUSETTS; MABEL. BARTON WILLS- 'EXEKIYIUTRLIIX vOF SAID ARTHUR, E'. 711145, DECEASED..

envien ron MOLDING Snam-RUBBER.

aasiuaaa.

. To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ARTHUR J. .Vi/ELS,

`United States, have invented a new and vuseful Device for Molding Sheet-Rubber, of

which the following is a specification'. c My invention relates to a method of sustaining orl fixing sheet rubber 'in shapes during the process ofv vulcanizing, which gives a new product, and mechanism therefor, the mechanism being vadapted to shape sheets or strips of rubber by stretching them as a whole or in part prior to and during vulcanization, and it is especially designed for use inl what is known as the cold process of vulcanization, the mold being of such character as to enable the agent which causes the vulcanization to reach substantially the whole of both surfaces of the rubber, and the product being one in which the rubber has been vulcanized in distorted or stretched form.` My invention may be adapted for use in molding or giving various shapes to rubber sheets or other rubber articles. ln practice the vform of my invention shown in the drawings isuseful in smocking, crimping, plaiting or shirring strips or sheets of rubber of'a kind especially adapted -to be used for trimming or ornamentation for rubber apparel, bathing caps or the like, but I do not mean to limit myseli2 to .such use, nor to the productionof the exact pattern of crimping shownin the drawin as the die members of themachine may ge variously shaped, forexample, to reproduce letters, Etruscan borders, concentric circles,

rosettes, or other forms of ornamentation, my invention relating not to the particular shape of the dies by which the rubber or rubber compound is sustained in shapes during vulcanization, but 'to the construction and arrangement of the shaping dieswhere-V by substantially the entire surface of the material may be acted upon by the vulcan- '1 izing agent.

My invention will be understood by reference to the drawings, in which one' `form of my mechanism is shown.-

Figure l is a side elevationv of a simple form of. mold embodying my invention,

Fig. 2 being a top view, the compressing handles ybeing removed.

Fig. 3 is a section on line 33 of Fig. 2.

acter are well known and except form no part of my invention.

I i Fig.4 4 is a cross section showing the operation of the mold,

rig. 5 being a Similar Section, the dies vbemg 1n separated position, showing vthe put in place manner in which the material is 1n the mold, .l

Fig. is a sectionl on the line 6-46`of F ig. L1:,'show1ng the parts in operative position.l

Fig. 7 is 'a plan' view of the material shaped by this form of die.

8 is 4a horizontal section thereof, and Flg'. 9 is another form of die.

' A is the base carrying two blocks a, a, or

other means for `lifting the lower die B above the' 'base to provide`V an air or gas space between the two.

rihe lower die B comprises a skeleton plate having projecting from its upper surface a series 'of die members b. These die'membersv may be set into suitable grooves inthe plate, may be [cast integral therewith, or

may bevotherwise attached thereto as is most Specification of Letters Patent,` Patgmjgd @gta 159 33mg; i Application mea maren 2e, y1ere. seriali-i0. 37,650. i

side as well as the end edges of the material to be acted upon are clampedv during the shaping and vulcanizing. process,- Thisclamp D may be a single rectangularframefQO or it may be made as shown offourpieces, v

and these parts, if used, may be attached. tof the `frame C in any convenient-wayfasby.-j ordinary screws or by thumb screws ci Jas' shown in the drawings, in which latter-case f vas a matter of convenience, an elongated-v washer d1 is used between each thumb screw and theframe C to project over and lhold in place the clamp D.

Frames and clamps of this general chartheir relation to the other parts of my apparatus, The upper die plate E is a skeleton similar to the lower die plate, but is used in reverse position, the die members in this case projecting downward from the under surface of the die plate E, and the die members e being y staggered'with relation to the die members b, these two sets of members being of sulfii onto the top of the bolts A1 and press upon Aof' each bolt being of die plate E, the threaded portion suiiicient length-to allow considerable pressure to be exerted Von the die members. Other means may be used to secure this-pressure. v n

In operation a stripv of' rubber G 1s clamped inthe frame C, D, the frame having holes at4 each end as at C1, I frame is placed on the top1 of the die plate B, the bolts A1 passing t rough the holes. The upper die plate E 'i's then put in plaee and the handlesF are screwed down on their bolts A1 so that the rubber strip G is more or less stretched as shown in Fig. 6, the die members e forcing the rubber .down between the ydie members b so that the rubber is stretched over each of these members.

This having been done, the device as a whole lis placed in the customary vulcanizing retort and the usual cold process of vulcanization is applied. It will be seen that th vulcanizing agent; will permeate the mold both through the, top assages El and the` bottom passages1 an will have an opportunity otcirculating all about the rubber and in Contact therewith at convenience in drawing merely, the thickness o the rubber in Fig. 6 has been exagthe upper gerated. The die members b, e should be ing agent, which may be more or less under pressure, to reach the surfaces oit` the rubber.

vsheet which lie between the two die members.

y After the vulcanizing process is finished; the mold is taken from vthe retort, and the `,handles F being removed` and the vmold being taken apart, it will be found thatthe material vwill be permanentlycrimped' into a form depending in extent upon the overlapping of the die members b and c. In the form of 'my invention shown it will be found, also, that the portion of the rubber sheet lying between the frame C and D will be of substantially the 'latness and smoothness of the strip as originally placed. in the ymold, so that the result will be a configuration substantially asshown in Fig. 7.. The pcd portion oit' the rubber it will be stood has been elongated or stretched in the' dies, while the two borders are iiat and of the original length in which the sheet put in the mold. These margins may cut oi if so desired and leave a shirred xand the shaped by the die'members.

all points. For

igaeinca strip \or the material before` vulcanization may be clamped onlyatthe ends if sufli- -`ciently narrow so. that there will be no Wide'I lieve to be new with'me, it is evident that the shape of the die members in themselves I' is' immaterial. In other words, die mem*- bers of various kindsl can be utilized in an apparatus of this general character to actv in like manner upon sheet rubber, and hence many'dii'erent kinds of ornamental trimming or ornamentation may be produced in thisway. -1 x n The 'form lof apparatus shown in the drawings will produce such a product asis shown in Figs-7 and 8 where G is the portion of the material held by the clamping Aplate C and clamp D, g being the depressions caused by the die members e, and g1 the parts of the material which have been above, the contourjof the shirring or -pattern, however it may be described, will depend upon the shape of the dies, which may be variedl according to the desired result, my` invention comprising a new method of ornamenting sheet rubber, which consists in stretching and fixing said sheet in whole or in part and vulcanizing it while in said As stated stretched and fixed condition, so that the v stretched portions thereof shall form a contrast withthe unstretched portions, both as to thickness of texture'and as to" conforma- 1 l 100- tion.

I have shown in Fig. 9 another form of die `member in which e1 is a wire die in the ornr of a staplev and attached to the ldie plate E in any suitable way. Such staples may be substituted for the plate form of die members shown at b and e with equal eiie'ct, sufficiently far apart-to allow-the vulcamzbeing arranged in staggered relation to each other 'as in the case ofthe die ,members Y) and e, and because of their skeleton formy affording a freer passage for the vulcanizing agent.

I do not mean of my invention shown as it may be otherwise embodied, its purpose'bein to expose y the greatest possible surface o stretched rubber to the vulcanizing agent, when vulcanizedespecially by the cold process so to'limit myself to the VJform 4 called, and' thus cause'it maintain its izo 1. The device above described comprising i a die /plate having a series of die members located therein, ay second die plate'having a similar series of die members located therein, a sheet holding clamp adapted to hold a sheet of material therein, means for clamping said sheet-holding clamp between said die plates whereby said die members will be in staggered relation and their ends will im pinge upon the sheet held by said clamp and distort it by stretching.

2. The device above described comprising a die'plate having a series of die members xedly mounted therein, and a second die plate having a similar series of die members fixedly mounted therein, a sheet-holdin clamp adapted to hold a sheet of materia therein, means for holding said clamp i whereby the sheet held thereby will be located between said die plates to be acted upon thereby, and means for clamping said die plates together whereby said die members will be staggered relatively to each other and their ends will impinge on the sheet held by said clamp and distorted by stretching, said die plates being open top andbottom whereby gases may circulate in contact with substantially the entire surface of the distorted material.

ARTHUR J. WILLS. 

